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Q&A With JONEZIE Cofounders, Matt Clough & Zack Leonard

Do you have products in your house or apartment you don’t use often, but aren’t ready to get rid of? The team at JONEZIE wants you to make money listing those items on their platform by renting them to people in your area. Or maybe there’s a product you want access to for a few days or a week, but don’t want to commit to purchasing — find someone that’s listed it on JONEZIE and rent it from them. JONEZIE is a platform that allows you to rent stuff to and from your neighbor, and the JONEZIE team believes this creates an opportunity for people to get more out of life. Sign up at JONEZIE.com.

Ambassador: Where did the idea for JONEZIE come from?

Matt: The idea came from our co-founder, Lenny, who wanted to go for a bike ride, but didn’t want to buy a bike. He saw his neighbors cruising back to their house on their bikes and he thought “What if I could just rent a bike from my neighbor for a few hours.” He called me and told me about the idea. We immediately started thinking about how we could help people make money renting stuff in their house, and help provide people with more access to more things without commiting to purchase.

Ambassador: Can this be used anywhere in the world?

Zack: We are currently in beta in Detroit and Ann Arbor. We think JONEZIE has the potential to be a platform that is used across the globe, but for right now, we’re doing everything we can to make it valuable for people right here in our area before launching in any other city. We know if we can make it a roaring success here, we can then take it just about anywhere.

Ambassador: If I list an item, how do I know my products won’t be stolen or damaged?

Matt: Great question, it’s one we get a lot. The short answer is we’ve implemented a JONEZIE Happiness Guarantee. If anything happens to your items, we have you covered. We make sure the lister gets a replacement for lost, stolen or damaged goods.

Ambassador: Where do people make the pick-up and drop-off for the items?

Zack: Users have the option of getting someone from JONEZIE to pick-up and drop-off the items you rent or offer to your neighbor free of charge. We’re all about making the process of renting from your neighbor as seamless as possible, so we’re excited to make deliveries for all of our users.

Ambassador: What does a day in the life of a JONEZIE employee look like?

Matt: Ha! Well, when Lenny and I first took action on the idea, we knew surrounding ourselves with talented people would be the key to giving this business the resources it needs to succeed. So that’s what we did. Our office right now is Lenny’s basement, and everyone on the team is giving up their mornings, nights and weekends to bring this to life. Sometimes we all work together from the basement, or from our own places. Everyone on the team is incredibly talented and brings something unique to the table that continues to push this project forward.

Ambassador: What does the future hold for JONEZIE?

Zack: We are very dedicated to making JONEZIE a success in the Detroit area. And to do so, we’ve built a really amazing team of talented people that all believe we need to change the way we think about consumption, and believe the future of consumption should, and will be more collaborative. What we’re looking for right now is for people to sign up at JONEZIE.com, list stuff in their house or apartment they’d like to rent to others, search around for something they’d like to rent, and provide us with all the feedback they have. We know we can only be successful if this idea is adopted by our own community — so we’re doing everything in our power to make it valuable for the Detroit community.